At its most basic, a wait period will simply require that a certain number of days pass before the next part of a sequence begins.
Event Information
Name
If you want to distinguish various wait periods, name them.
Wait For Field
The dropdown list in this field lets you choose from several options:
No Delay
Although it seems counter-intuitive to create a wait period and then specify that you want no delay, you may, in the advanced settings, decide that the next event will always start on the weekend following the completion of the previous event. No delay, then, would mean that whether an event completes on a Monday or a Friday, the next event would begin no sooner than the next Saturday. Therefore, your wait period might be five days, or it might be only one day.
Hours and Minutes
If you need a very specific wait period, you can choose hours and minutes. A scenario for this might be an automation for a chemical application. At the completion of the visit, a wait period of X hours and Y minutes must pass before it’s safe for your client to play on the lawn or swim in the pool. The sequence begins the wait period as soon as a field technician completes the job, then it sends your client a text message when it’s safe to go swimming or walk on the grass.
Days
This sets a basic wait period of X days. Remember that each event works based on its own rules. If your wait period is one day and ends on a Saturday, but your next event contains a rule that requires it to begin on a weekday (“Send Mon-Fri Only”), the event will begin Monday, the first available weekday after the wait period has expired.
Days After
This is similar to the "Days Before" option, it lets you specify the number of days after the "Client Since,” “Visit Date,” or custom field date for an event to process. When the event processes, the Wait Period schedules the days you specify after the desired date (for example, five days after "Client Since" date).
Days Before
This event is beneficial in setting an event to take place a day or more before a Client Since Date.
Advanced Settings
All wait periods run on any day and at any time by default. There is no need to use advanced settings if that meets your needs. If you want to further customize the wait period by specifying dates or times, check the box next to "Advanced Settings" to reveal more options:
Advanced settings limit the time of year during which a wait period will initiate. A basic wait period can initiate year-round during any of your business hours. One with advanced settings will, based on those settings, move clients directly onto the next event during certain days, months, or times.
Run On
Use this to designate specific days and/or times in which you want the waiting period to run.
Day of Month
This option lets you choose a day or several days, from 1 to 31, or just the last day of the month, using check boxes. When you have made your selections, the Day(s) field will display the number of days you selected.
You also need to specify the months when the wait period is valid. As with the day, if you choose one month, the name of the month will display in the field; but if you choose two or more months, the number of months will display.
With this advanced setting, you could choose a wait period event that would initiate only in the first 15 days of the month, and only during the summer months. At any other time, a client would move directly to the next event without any waiting.
Day of Week
To further limit a wait period, you can choose specific days. This option gives you the same days and months options, and it also lets you specify a week in any month. You could, for example, create a wait period that runs only on the third Wednesday of any month.
When you select the Day of Week on which a Wait Period will occur, you now have the option of Any (the default setting) from the Week dropdown list. This gives you more control when setting up a Wait Period without restricting it to specific weeks of the month.
Time
For any day, week, or month option, you also can optionally specify a time. The default value is “Any.”
Weekday/Weekend
These options initiate a wait period only on weekdays or only on weekends, as you choose. There are no further options with these.
Specific
Specify a time at which to begin the wait period. The wait period will “wait” until the start time has passed; then, it will move onto the next event in the sequence.
Range
Enter both beginning and end times. This wait period will last only for the duration you specify.
If an event triggers a wait period, but it’s outside of the times you’ve set, the wait period’s beginning will be delayed a day until it is within the range of the hours you’ve set.
Example: Your wait period is set to run on any day, for three days, and will process between 6:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Someone completes a visit, which would normally trigger the wait period, but the visit is completed at 4:30 p.m. The wait period will begin at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.